FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



waste-lands, the stunted bushes which catch the sun- 

 shine and are sheltered from the wind by a few heaps of 

 stones, are the chilly Empusa's favourite dwelling. 



I will tell you, as well as I can, what she looks like. 

 The tail-end of her body is always twisted and curved 

 up over her back so as to form a crook, and the lower 

 surface of her body (that is to say, of course, the upper 

 surface of the crook) is covered with pointed, leaf-shaped 

 scales, arranged in three rows. The crook is propped 

 on four long, thin legs, like stilts; and on each of these 

 legs, at the point where the thigh joins the shin, is a 

 curved, projecting blade not unlike that of a cleaver. 



In front of this crook on stilts, this four-legged stool, 

 there rises suddenly — very long and almost perpendicu- 

 lar — the stiff corselet or bust. It is round and slender 

 as a straw, and at the end of it is the hunting-trap, copied 

 from that of the Mantis. This consists of a harpoon 

 sharper than a needle, and a cruel vice with jaws toothed 

 like a saw. The jaw, or blade formed by the upper arm, 

 is hollowed into a groove and carries five long spikes 

 on each side, with smaller indentations in between. 

 The jaw formed by the fore-arm is grooved in the same 

 way, but the teeth are finer, closer, and more regular. 

 When at rest, the saw of the fore-arm fits into the groove 

 of the upper arm. If the machine were only larger it 

 would be a fearful instrument of torture. 



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